Indigenous Knowledge On Development And Management Of Shallow Dug Wells Of Dodoma Municipality In Tanzania

Abstract

Dodoma city, central Tanzania, seats in a semi-arid region of East Africa with limited rains and surface water resources.

Consequently, the area largely depends on shallow and deep aquifers for its freshwater needs. Owing to harsh climatic

conditions, chronic lack of year-round surface water bodies and, limited development of water distribution infrastructures,

over year’s local people have nurtured, developed and, passed on important indigenous knowledge (IK) on exploiting and

managing shallow aquifers (SAs). However, there is no clear documented administrative plans for the SAs and the roles of

IK, which is widely practised in developing SDWs and managing SAs, are not properly documented. This study intended

to assess the extent of shallow dug wells (SDWs) utilization and contribution of IK on management of SAs of indigenous

people of Dodoma Municipality. The methods followed include critical field observations, measurements and, focus group

discussions done during both the dry season (Sep.–Oct. 2013) and wet season (Dec. 2013–Feb. 2014). The results show

that SDWs occur widely in the city, particularly in the suburbs, where they often serve as the only sources of freshwater

and heavily dependent by the populace. It is clear that there is rich IK on management of SAs including on groundwater

exploration, digging, water allocation, pricing, and even on water quality and, water treatment skills. The aforementioned IK

clearly contribute to water sufficiency to the populace and general management of groundwater such as enhancing recharge

mechanisms where about 1% of local rainfall is recharged through a network of SDWs compared to ~ 5–10% that is naturally

being recharged by rainfall through the vadose zone. Thus, as much as the current policy framework and groundwater

managers do not recognize the roles of IK and contributions of SDWs as key water sources, it is clear that IK contributes to

the groundwater management and SDWs already support large part of the society. While it is globally appreciated that vital

skills on SDWs management are vanishing, local people in Dodoma still retain them and should, therefore, be preserved. It

is further recommended that IK are strengthened, improved and most importantly, incorporated in the local water resources

management plans that already advocate on integrated approaches but which clearly ignores the IK and the local people’s

efforts to explore and manage water resource, particularly SAs.